Improvement in locks for freight-cars



ITED' S TATEs PATENT :OF-mon FREDERICK J. HOYT; OF- ivnwvonk, NpY. 1

IMPROVEMENT-IN .LooKs. FOR FIREIGHT-JCARS.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 1 99,713, dated January29, 1878 application filed l -November26,1877. l

To all whom it may concern; l

Be it known that I, FREDERICK J. How, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Device for LockingFreight-Cars, of which the following is a specification: v r t Figure 1is a side elevation of a freight-car having my improvement attached,showing the door locked. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a car having myimprovement, showing the door unlocked. Fig. 3 represents a modifiedform of the improvement. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the key orunfastening-rod, and Fig. 5 is a deiail view of the hinged stapleattached to the cor.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

- Theobject of my invention is to furnish an effective device forlocking freight-cars while in transit, that will protect the contents ofthe car from thieves, and that may be readily opened by authorizedpersons.

Referring to the drawing, Ais a car of ordinary construction, havingsliding doors B B, in each of which a recess, a, is formed to receive ahasp or square staple, b, which is pivoted in the said recess, so thatit may be folded in flush with the surface of the door or let down intoa horizontal position, when it may be engaged by the locking device. Alever, O, is pivoted in a mortise in the door-post, and has formed uponone of its ends which projects into the doorway a catch or hook, c, thatengages the hasp b when the latter is in a horizontal position and thedoor is shut. A spiral spring, (I, is attached to the longer arm of thelever O, to draw it upward, and thus throw the hook a downward intoengagement with the hasp b. The nib of the hook is beveled, so that whenthe door is closed the hook will automatically engage the hasp.

There is a box, D, in the wall of the car, in which is pivoted lever E,having equal arms. To the upper arm of this lever a cord or chain, 07/,is attached, which runs through a curved tube, 6, that projects from theside of the box, and is turned upward toward the lever G. The cord d isattached to the longer arm of the lever 0.

A tube, F, extends diagonally upward from the lower part of the box D tothe end of the drawn from the tube F- while the cars are coupledtogether.

There is a bow, f, on the outer end of the key for convenience inhandling, and its inner end is bored longitudinally to receive a bolt,g,

which is provided with a pin, h, that projects through'a slot, 1',formedin the side of the key, and is capable of being placed in eitherof the notches j k, formed at opposite sides and opposite ends of theslot 2'.

When the bolt is entirely within the shank of the key, the pin h restsin the notch 70, and prevents the bolt'from becoming accidentallyprojected from the shank of the key. When the cars areseparated, and itis desired to unlock the car, the key G is withdrawn from the tube F,and the bolt 9 is projected from the shank and retained by placing thepin h in the notch j. The key is now replaced in the tube F, and pushedforward against the lever E, moving it so as to draw upon the cord dsufficiently to release the hook at the end of the catch-lever G fromthe hasp b projecting from the door. The door may then be opened. If itbe desired to open the door wide, the hasp bis folded into the recess inthe 'door, when there is no impediment to the opening of the door to itsfull width.

When the key is pressed in, so as to unfasten the door, it may beretained in that position by turning the bow so that it will be engagedby the hook I, which is secured to the end of the car.

To prevent the unlocking of the car when uncoupled and detached a chain,m, is secured to the end of the car, and provided with a long link,which may be placed over the staple n and locked, the chain being firstpassed through the bow of the key. When it is desired to leave the key Gin the tube F with the bolt g projecting fiom the end, and at the sametime prevent the opening of the car by unauthorized persons, a pin, 0,is inserted in the transverse hole 19 in the keyshank, and is locked byplacing through it a padlock.

The door at the opposite side of the car is' secured by a device aportion of which is like that just described, and will therefore bereferred to by the same letters of reference. In this case the box D,containing the lever E, is omitted, and the cord d is attached to a rod,H, that extends through a horizontal tube, I, arranged in the wall ofthe car, and terminating at the endof the car. The rod H has a head, q,between which and the end of the tube a heavy spring, 17, is placed. Aring, 3,

is connected with the outer end of the rod H,

and to it a chain, it, is attached, which may be engaged by a hookprojecting from the end of the adjacent car.

A hasp, 1), projects from the end of the car, a and extends through thering 8, and limits the motion of the rod H. The spring 1' has suflicientstrength to resist any effort to draw the rod H out of the tube by hand.The unfastening is effected by placing the chain I on the hook of theadjacent car, uncoupling the cars, and drawing them apart by means ofthe 1000'- motive.

If it be desired to'unfasten the door without separating the train, itmay be done by entering the other door and unfastening it from theinside.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The locking-lever G, spring 11, cord (1,disengaging-lever E, and key G, in combination, substantially as hereinshown and described.

2. The hook I, projecting from the end of the car, for retaining thevkey Gin the tube 13., as herein shown and described.

3. The folding hasp b, in combination with the door B, having the recessa, substantially as shown and described.

FREDERICK J. HOYT.

' Witnesses:

' O. SEDGWICK,

ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

